


Children of Akatosh Drabbles

by AFTanith



Series: Children of Akatosh Fic [6]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Alternate Universe - Alduin Wins, Bi-Curiosity, Community: dailyprompt, Community: drabble-zone, Community: femslashficlets, Drabble Collection, F/F, F/M, Gen, Heteroflexible Female Character, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Torture, Multiple Followers, Thalmor, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-09-21 00:01:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9521819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AFTanith/pseuds/AFTanith
Summary: Prompt for 2016-03-05





	1. to be paid in blood

**Author's Note:**

> [Prompt for 2016-03-05](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/654348.html)

Malene had suspected that ending the Dark Brotherhood was something she wouldn't walk away from unscathed, but finding her death reflected back at her in the wild, shining eyes of this odd little jester is a possibility she could never have seen coming. She still quite acutely remembers the day she met him on the road and helped him, however inadvertently, get the cart that carried the Night Mother up and running again.

She should have killed him then, should have wrung the life from his tiny body and set fire to his so-called mother's corpse, and that, at least, would have put her a _bit_ closer to achieving what she thought she had when she put the others down. (There is a part of her now that strongly suspects there are other assassins left alive, and it would be a harrowing thought if she had any faith that _she_ would still be living once the jester's work is done.)

Malene is still quite satisfied with what she did, though, and if this strange, horrifying man dares ask her to repent, she fully intends to refuse. Destroying the Dark Brotherhood was the right decision, and she was always willing to pay the price.

Just because she's learned that it's a price to be paid in _blood_ is no reason for her to back out now--so long as that blood is her own.


	2. this was a very, very bad idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-03-15](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/656796.html)

Malene sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "I shouldn't have agreed to this. _Why_ did I agree to this?"

"Because you have horrible taste in men?" Marcurio offered, and Mal managed a half-hearted grin as Lydia shot him a glare. "Myself excluded."

"It'll be fine," Lydia protested, though if her deep frown was any indication, even she didn't believe it. "We'll just have to watch him. Closely."

Marcurio laughed, shaking his head. "I should hope so. Because Talos knows he'll be watching _her_."

Malene couldn't help but feel that she was missing some kind of joke.


	3. my secret (weapon)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-03-23](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/657993.html)

Mal backed up, swords pointed at her from every angle. If Odahviing didn't hurry up, they were going to take her, and she might not have a chance like this again. They weren't likely to be so careless in guarding her next time, after all.

She saw him before they did, and he sight of him filled her with a surge of relief as sure as their panic.

"What is that!?" someone screamed as his shadow fell over them.

"Dragon!" shouted another, and their heads turned in unison.

"That," Malene said, grinning fiercely in her triumph, "is my secret weapon."


	4. it's been a slow day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-03-22](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/657749.html)

Arterion was panting, leaning with his back against an aspen tree. "Do you always do this?" he demanded, so out of breath that his words came out in gasps. "That's three bears, twelve wolves, and at least two dozen bandits this morning alone!"

Mal only laughed. "No," she said, shaking her head, and for all of a single moment, the Altmer looked relieved. "So far, it's been a slow day."

The elf mumbled something indistinguishable under his breath, and Mal backed away from him.

"You coming?" she called.

He glared at her from beneath his hood, but he followed anyway.


	5. camaraderie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-03-20](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/657565.html)

They are a family now, as dear to her as the people she lost before Helgen and even more fire-forged in their friendship. Malene, Harrold, Jenassa, and Lydia took down the World-Eater together, faced draugr and dragons and Thalmor and thieves side-by-side, and Malene intends to keep them that way for as long as she can. She's sure, of course, that eventually someone might get themselves a better gig or they'll find a sweetheart and start a family. That's life. But until then, there's a war to win and adventures to be had, and Mal won't have to be alone.


	6. excited about the mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-03-18](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/657246.html)

"Excited about the mission?" Harrold's voice interrupted Mal's thoughts, and she turned to him, smiling.

"Of course! This could be world-changing, if we pull it off. Taking down the Dark Brotherhood? That's a noble deed if I've ever heard one."

Jenassa made another small noise of disapproval. "Have you not considered that perhaps the Brotherhood serves a purpose? There will always be assassins, after all."

"And people who want people assassinated," she agreed. "I'd just rather those wishes went unfulfilled."

"Not including the Aretino boy, of course?"

Mal laughed. "Mostly unfulfilled, then."

The mercenary just shrugged. "Whatever you say, Dragonborn."


	7. a crazy mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-03-30](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/659834.html)

"So let me get this straight," Harrold said, uncharacteristic skepticism in his eyes. "You're a Daedra, except you manifest on Mundus in the form of a talking dog... and your master is Clavicus Vile?"

"What part is confusing you?" the dog asked, and Mal had to stifle her laugh.

Harrold looked helplessly at Mal, and on the other side of him, Lydia snickered aloud. "I think it's the voice," Mal offered. "You have a very strange accent, even for a Daedra. And especially for a dog."

Barbas only rolled his eyes. "Are you guys going to help me or what?"


	8. a second chance to get it right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-03-26](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/658756.html)

This is, perhaps, a second chance to get it right, and yet it's a chance she's not sure she should take. That she has been spared Cicero's madness is shocking enough, but the reason is vastly more so; the Night Mother or perhaps Sithis himself has chosen her as the Listener to the Dark Brotherhood, the ancient order she'd thought she'd destroyed, and while she suspects that killing the assassins she missed might be the only way to free herself from that destiny, she now fears what will happen if she botches the job again. Sithis won't forgive her twice.


	9. forgive me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-03-24](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/658206.html)

"So you're the one who killed my family," Babette says in a child's voice, those eerie eyes appraising her. "And now you're the Listener, the most honored of us all. Quite the irony, wouldn't you say?"

"It's not lost on me."

"You don't even regret what you did, do you?" the vampire asks her. "You have no remorse for slaughtering our brothers and sisters."

Mal sighs. She knew this was coming sooner or later. "I'm not asking you to forgive me."

The little dead girl smiles, her fangs flashing in the light. "Good," she tells her. "Because I never will."


	10. too tired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-01-31](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/646953.html)

Mal groans as she feels a body settle beside her bedroll. "Not tonight, Marc," she mumbles, eyes still closed. "I'm too tired."

The person goes still beside her, and that's her first sign that it isn't Marcurio. Mal peeks a cautious eye open, and it's with a blush that she recognizes Arterion.

"Shit," she mumbles. "Sorry. Thought you were..." She trails off; it's obvious what she thought. "What are you doing?"

"I--" He looks every bit as uncomfortable as she feels. "Nothing. Sorry if I woke you."

She's still suspicious, but she rolls over and goes back to sleep anyway.


	11. tripped up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-03-13](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/656296.html)

Already, the elf had stepped on two separate pressure plates--the first had sent a barrage of poisoned darts rocketing in their direction, and the second had brought a massive, spiked gate swinging straight for them--so when the idiot walked right through the tripwire everyone else had been so careful to step over, boulders cascading down the slope so quickly that Mal had to wrench him out of the way, no one was surprised.

"Don't worry," Marcurio offered, snickering. "Everyone gets tripped up sooner or later. Even a superior Mer such as yourself."

Arterion kept his silence, glaring daggers.


	12. wait for me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-04-02](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/660699.html)

Mal smiles reassuringly, even though she's every bit as worried as the rest of them. "Wait for me here," she tells them, and she hugs them all one by one. "I'll be back as soon as I can. And if I'm not..." She laughs softly. "Well, I'll be waiting for you all in Sovngarde, won't I?"

"Not me," Jenassa offers in that dark voice of hers as Mal mounts the dragon.

"Then I guess that gives me just one more reason to be sure I come back, yeah? Besides the World-Eater and all, I suppose."

Odahviing lurches, and they're off.


	13. climb this mountain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2016-01-25](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/645413.html)

"Seven thousand steps," Mal said quietly, glancing at the three people behind her. "Talos, I hope that's an exaggeration. I can't tell you how much I don't want to climb seven thousand steps."

"Pilgrims do it all the time," Harrold said, though he sounded little more enthusiastic than her. "We're warriors. How hard can it be?"

Ignoring Jenassa's scoff at the idea of Harrold calling himself a warrior, Mal sighed. "It's gonna be cold as shit up there, too, isn't it? Nord or not, I still hate the cold." She glanced back at the others. "Alright. Let's climb this mountain."


	14. a suicide mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2015-12-17](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/636983.html)

"Malene," Lydia interrupted, her voice approaching panic, "this is a suicide mission."

"It is," Mal admitted, "and more than most, seeing as how I'll be literally going to the afterlife. But I don't have another choice. If Alduin feasts in Sovngarde unimpeded, he'll return just as strong as he was before, and I need to strike him while he's weak."

"But what if you can't come back?" Harrold asked quietly, and Mal gave him a soft, sympathetic smile.

"Then I died saving the world."

"And if Alduin returns without you?" Jenassa's voice cut in, sharp and hard as ever.

"If Alduin defeats me and I don't come back, take the Elder Scroll to Ulfric Stormcloak, and get him in contact with Delphine and Esbern--but only if he agrees to fight Alduin instead of the damn Empire. I don't have any idea if he'll do it, but he's the only person I know besides the Greybeards who has the Thu'um. Maybe between the lot of you..." She sighed. "Even if it takes him years to learn Dragonrend, it's the only chance of bringing Alduin down."

It's not the best plan she's ever had, but it's the only one she's got.


	15. a messy business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Prompt for 2015-12-27](http://dailyprompt.dreamwidth.org/639449.html)

The camp is ominously quiet the next morning. Mal's actually vaguely worried as she disentangles herself from Marcurio, and she hears him stir as she quickly slips into enough clothes to step out of the tent.

It's not good. Everyone is awake and going about their morning routines, but there are visible winces when she's noticed. The tension is thick in the air, and Mal glances guiltily back into the tent. How loud were they last night?

"Lydia?" she murmurs, cautiously stepping up beside her housecarl. "Why is everyone acting like...?" She gestures helplessly toward the group.

The other woman glances at her, an amused expression on her face. "Because this is the first time you've had your mage in your tent since we picked up the Thalmor, and the elf's not taking it well."

Mal stares blankly at the other woman. "So? Who cares?"

"Everyone who doesn't want to get zapped," Lydia says. "Wait until you see him; he's livid. You'll want to keep him away from Marc."

"Fucking Divines," Mal mutters, running a hand through her hair. "This is the last thing I need. Can't even get fucked without the Thalmor knowing about it now."

Lydia only laughs.


	16. A New Force

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for drabble-zone [Challenge #10: Amnesty](http://drabble-zone.dreamwidth.org/13467.html) / [Challenge #1: New](http://drabble-zone.dreamwidth.org/805.html).

She's not even sure why she tries it. She barely knows what she's doing as she opens her mouth; she follows instincts she didn't know she had (instincts she didn't have until now, perhaps), and the deafening **_FUS!_** explodes from her lungs with all the force of a dragon's beating wings.

The guards stumble, nearly knocked from their feet by her voice, and Malene stares in shock at the man who encouraged her to try. He's looking at her like she's a miracle--a godsend--and the skeletal corpse of the dragon still smolders nearby.

"Well," Mal breathes, "that's new."


	17. Her Shout Is Silenced

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for drabble-zone [Challenge #10: Amnesty](http://drabble-zone.dreamwidth.org/13467.html) / [Challenge #6: Heroic Failures](http://drabble-zone.dreamwidth.org/8217.html).

Odahviing waits far from Skuldafn for news of who will survive: Alduin or the Dragonborn who has shaken the foundation of his throne.

He wonders what it will be like if she is the victor in their fight. Alduin has always been the greatest of them, Akatosh's favorite son, and what will the world be like without him? Can a mortal--dragon soul or no--ever truly rule the Dov? Will she want to, even? Will she understand what her victory means?

In the distance rings a Shout. Odahviing turns toward Skuldafn.

A massive black shadow lifts into the sky.


	18. A Natural Harmony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for femslashficlets [Challenge #084 - Drink](http://femslashficlets.dreamwidth.org/118255.html).

Malene always has this problem when she drinks: inhibitions start to slip away, the boundary between friends and lovers (or enemies and lovers) starts to blur, and her decision-making process starts to skew toward hedonism. So maybe she shouldn't be surprised. 

Serana has been flirting with her--that much, Mal knows. There's chemistry between them, a natural harmony that makes them easy allies and fast friends, and the drunker Mal gets, the more seriously she considers it.

She's never been with a woman--perhaps Serana hasn't, either--but a growing part of her thinks she might just want to try.

**Author's Note:**

> [Prompt me.](aftanith-writes.tumblr.com/submit)


End file.
